Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Continuing both my story on the great animal characters of 2011 and my story from August on Andy Serkis's Academy Award chances/worthiness, yesterday I wrote a Conversation roundup piece about the growing fan-based campaign for Uggie, the dog from "The Artist," and Fox's offic...

Director Rupert Wyatt Locked In To Return, Fox Launching Oscars Campaign For SerkisFrom sneered-at needless sequel to a dead franchise to the lone summer blockbuster that managed to pick up both good reviews and a storming box office (it's closing in on $500 million worldwide), "Rise of the Planet o...

We're not sure that there was a bigger surprise this year than "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes." A tired franchise, from a creative-interference-happy studio, with a green director and a plot straight from "Deep Blue Sea?" Even without the initially unpromising trailers, it looked like a late-summer...

Usually, studios will look for any possible reason to blame the weather for a film’s poor box office showing. Heat waves only mean audiences will seek the air conditioning of a theater, at least when something exciting is playing. And people will withstand non-apocalyptic snowstorms simply to get away from the cold while enjoying the blockbuster of their choice. But there aren’t a whole lot of options when almost half of a movie’s proposed locations are under siege by a vicious hurricane. Many large chains didn’t even bother to stay open during Irene’s reign, meaning that these quiet end-of-August releases could find no traction heading into ...

Credit a canny expansion strategy that nabbed “The Help” the number one spot at the box office in its second weekend of release. Disney wisely banked on the film having more buzz than the slate of underwhelming new releases (not all of it positive), and after two weekends, it’s easily one of the season’s big success stories, as the picture has crested $70 million after only twelve days of release. The establishment has been encouraged - stories of the struggles of minorities highlighted by the heroism of a plucky white person of higher social strata are surefire earners, particularly if you market to families. Institutionalized racism at its ...

All is forgiven between the public and the “Planet Of The Apes” franchise. This relationship seemed on the outs as soon as Tim Burton gave us Apebraham Lincoln a decade ago, but “Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes” has healed all wounds. While not keeping pace with that last Apeventure, 'Rise' has still...

“The Planet Of The Apes” saga is one of the healthier franchises in movie history. All the sequels occurred within a reasonable time frame, and while they were of varied quality, each one had their own separate reason to exist, and none were truly embarrassing. By comparison, the remake in 2001 was so far removed from the series’ original ethos that most won’t even acknowledge it as part of any continuity. Nevertheless, that atrocity opened to $68 million, which nears $100 million when adjusted for inflation. So while some may have been burned by the series thanks to Tim Burton, ten years might have been the appropriate time to reboot and sti...

What up, party peoples?! It's August y'all, the best time of year to seek solace from the heat in the cool climes of an air conditioned movie theater! I feel for those of you forced to choose "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" in order to bring your body temps down. I know, I'm being uncharitable but that's what I do. Pass judgment on works of art and commerce created by hundreds of people. I just don't care for those ape cartoons, okay? And raise your hand if a small part of you thinks this is a performance art piece by James Franco like the Oscars clearly were. If you're still jonesin' for Jason Bateman talking dirty after "Horrible Bosses," ...

When blockbuster films deal with conflict that poses a global threat, the question hangs over them: why is humanity worth saving? It’s the drug-film conundrum: 95 minutes of injections and hard-living make a stronger impression than the therapy and lessons of the remaining 10. Why bother presenting ...

We're still on something of a knife-edge about "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes," two weeks away from the film's release: talented director Rupert Wyatt and performance capture star Andy Serkis have talked a good talk so far, and elements of it have been intriguing, but the trailers for the most part...